Sensor · Spaceborne

ATMS

Missions → NOAA-20 (Operational) , NOAA-21 (Operational) , Suomi NPP (Extended operations)

ATMS is a cross-track passive microwave sounder for atmospheric temperature and humidity profiling.

Sensor

ATMS (Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder) is a cross-track passive microwave sounder that combines temperature-profiling and humidity-profiling functions in a single instrument. It operates 22 channels spanning 23.8 GHz to 183.31 GHz, covering oxygen absorption bands near 50-58 GHz for temperature profiling and water-vapour absorption bands near 183 GHz for humidity profiling.^[1] The instrument succeeds the paired AMSU-A and AMSU-B instruments, consolidating their measurement capabilities on the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) platforms.^[2]

ATMS was built by Northrop Grumman and first flew on Suomi-NPP, launched in October 2011.^[3]^[1] It subsequently flew on NOAA-20 (launched November 2017) and NOAA-21 (launched November 2022).^[4] NOAA plans to fly ATMS on JPSS-3 and JPSS-4.^[2] The instrument provides radiance profiles used in operational numerical weather prediction for temperature and moisture retrievals from the surface to the mesosphere.^[2]

Operator pricing

Pricing not publicly listed by operator

Supply chain position

carried by NOAA-20

carried by NOAA-21

carried by Suomi NPP

Methods this sensor implements

Demonstrated

Microwave atmospheric soundingvia Suomi NPP
ATMS 22-channel passive microwave sounder combining temperature (O2 bands 50-58 GHz) and humidity (183 GHz water-vapour) profiling in a single instrument; replaces AMSU-A+AMSU-B

Capable, undemonstrated

None on record.

Topics this relates to

Atmospheric profiling Microwave atmospheric sounding(demonstrated)well suited

Cloud properties Microwave atmospheric sounding(demonstrated)marginal

Sources

[1]WMO OSCAR - Details for Instrument ATMSagency doc2026-06-11
[2]NOAA NESDIS - Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS)operator marketing2026-06-11
[3]Northrop Grumman - Advanced Technology Microwave Sounderoperator engineering2026-06-11
[4]NOAA STAR JPSS - ATMS Instrumentoperator engineering2026-06-11

Cite https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/atms Markdown twin → Field definitions → Suggest a correction →

How to cite this page

Plain text

ATMS. EO-Atlas, SpectraWorks B.V. https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/atms (CC BY 4.0)

BibTeX

@misc{eoatlas:products:sensor:atms,
  title = {ATMS},
  author = {{EO-Atlas}},
  publisher = {SpectraWorks B.V.},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
  url = {https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/atms}
}